The Week In Review
10/11-10/15/10
10/15/10U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured investors that further monetary easing is ahead and the economic data demonstrated an ongoing improvement with benign inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28 points to 11,122. The S&P 500 climbed 5 points to 1,179. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 23 points to 2,458. One of the winners this morning is Google up 10% following better than expected earnings. Google has received numerous upgrades today. Apple continues to perform great now solidly above $300 a share to new highs. AMD, JB Hunt, and Charles Schwab are higher following earnings. First Horizon and Mattel are down over 4% following earnings. After the first half an hour the Dow fell into the red led by the financials. Bank of America and JP Morgan are both down over 4%. Bank of America is at a new 52 week low. That's not good. GE is down 4% following earnings this morning. Capital One is down 3.5% on a downgrade. After the first hour the Dow remained in the red down 50 points. Even with the weakness, three Dow components IBM, Altria, and McDonalds made new 52 week highs this morning. The Nasdaq remains in the green thanks to Google and Apple. Through the morning and into the afternoon the Dow remained in the red due to the financials. The Techs remain in the green. In the last hour the Nasdaq kept improving led by Apple and Google. The Dow is getting weighed down by the financials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 31 points at 11,062, weighed down by shares of General Electric off 5% after the conglomerates earnings disappointed. The S&P 500 index rose 2 points to 1,176, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 33 points or 1.4% to 2,468. For the week, the Dow gained 0.5%, the S&P rose 1%, and the Nasdaq jumped 2.8%.
10/14/10
U.S. stocks open modestly lower after economic data showed a weekly bounce in jobless claims and tame core inflation in September. After a four-session climb, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 20 points to 11,075. The S&P 500 fell 4 points to 1,174. The Nasdaq Composite declined 7 points to 2,433. The earnings are flooding in. Safeway and Fairchild Semi are performing well after beating estimates. Apollo Group beat estimates, but then made cautious comments. The stock is down 25%. Winnebago, Granger, and Progressive are modestly lower following earnings. Plenty of upgrades and downgrades this morning. Ford, JP Morgan, EMC, Guess, HP,DR Horton, Alfac, Frontier, and Pulte Homes were all upgraded. JP Morgan and the rest of the financials are lower due in part to the suspension of the foreclosures. One analyst made cautious comments that the suspension of the foreclosures will slow down the housing recovery. A number of blue chip stocks are trading at new highs or at all time highs. The list includes IBM, Apple, Ford, Freeport McMoran, and Kraft. After the first hour the averages fought to get back into the green even though the financials are weak. Through the morning the averages continue to struggle to remain in the green as the financials sink lower. During the lunch hour the averages fell into the red led by the financials. In the last hour the selling accelerated with the Dow falling 70 points only to rebound into the close. Amazing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down a point to 11,094. The S&P 500 index fell 4 points to 1,173, weighed down by its financials and materials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite eased 5 points to 2,435.
10/13/10
U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, extending gains into a fourth day, after a few industry giants reported results that bolstered sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39 points to 11,059. The S&P 500 added 3 points to 1,173. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 10 points to 2,428. Better than expected earnings from Intel, JP Morgan, and CSX are adding fuel to the bull's case. CSX is jumping 4% helping lift the transportation average. Intel and JP Morgan opened higher, but are now pulling back. Linear Tech is down 4% after missing estimates. Goodrich is modestly higher on an upgrade. Plenty of upgrades and downgrades this morning. In the tech space Qualcomm, Intuit, Amazon, and Take Two Interactive are all higher on upgrades. Apple was not upgraded, but the stock made a milestone opening above $300 a share for the first time. Google is also higher. After the first hour the averages remain near the highs of the day although Intel and JP Morgan are now in the red. In the retail space Electronic Arts, Smithfield Foods, and Priceline are higher on upgrades. The commodities continue to rally. Through the morning the averages kept improving. The Dow rose over 100 points to within 130 points of the April highs. Ironically, two Dow components, Intel and JP Morgan are trading lower. The Nasdaq is up 25 points to within 60 points of the April highs. During the lunch hour the averages remained strong near the highs of the day. A number of stocks like Harley Davidson, Sandisk, and Hartford are higher on takeover rumors. The market maybe setting its self up for a pullback. In the last hour we did get some profit-taking into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 75 points at 11,096, marking its fourth consecutive session of gains and its highest close since May 3rd. The S&P 500 index rose 8 points to 1,178, lifted by its materials, industrials and energy sectors. The Nasdaq Composite rose 23 points to 2,441.
10/12/10
U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, bringing the Dow industrials back under 11,000, as a stronger U.S. dollar dented commodities and related shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32 points to 10,978. The S&P 500 Index shed 4 points to 1,161. The Nasdaq Composite declined 6 points to 2,395. For the second day in a row we have a multi-billion dollar merger. Pfizer is buying King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion. King's stock is trading up 40%. The pick up in mergers has caused a number of rumors to circulate as investors are looking for the next takeover target. Avon Products is jumping 6% on such rumors. Office Max is up 4% on rumors of a takeover as well. On the earnings front, Fastenal and Johnson Controls are lower even though both beat estimates. Plenty of upgrades and downgrades this morning. In the tech sector Apple and Google both received two upgrades. Both are trading higher. F5 Networks and Autodesk are higher on upgrades. Intel is modestly higher ahead of earnings tonight. Even Research in Motion is trading higher. Most of the commodities are lower except for the fertilizers. Agrium is up 2% to new highs thanks to an upgrade. After the first half an hour the Dow fell 80 points. The Nasdaq declined 20 points. This is the first real sell off in some time. The financials are modestly higher for once. The banks have really been out of favor. Through the morning the averages slowly improved led by techs and financials. In the afternoon the Nasdaq moved into the green while the Dow remained in the red. The oil drillers are rallying on hopes the deepwater drilling moratorium will soon end. At 2 o'clock, the Fed minutes indicated that the economy remains weak and they, the Fed, are ready to act if needed. The averages rallied following this news anticipating the Fed to do more quantitative easing to help the economy. In the last hour the averages continued to rally with the major averages moving into the green. Resilient market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up10 points at 11,020. The S&P 500 index rose 4 points to end at 1,169. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 15 points to 2,417.
10/11/10
U.S. stocks opened modestly higher Monday, extending gains for the Dow Industrial Average above 11,000. This week is the start of third quarter earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9 points to 11,016. The S&P 500 rose a point to 1,166. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 3 points to 2,405. Merger Monday is back in vogue. Gymboree is jumping 22% after agreeing to be acquired by a private equity firm. Childrens Place and JC Penney are jumping on this merger news. Family Dollar, Gap, Coinstar, and Abercrombie & Fitch are higher on upgrades. In the tech sector Apple and Google continue to push higher. Both received positive comments this morning from analysts. Symantec, Broadcom, and Corning are higher on upgrades. IBM is at a new 52 week high. Research in Motion is one of the few techs trading lower. The commodities remain on fire. Fertilizers are all trading higher. Chesapeake Energy is up 2.5% after selling a stake in the firm to a Chinese oil company. After the first hour the averages remained quiet. Most people probably believe the markets are closed. The bond market is closed today. Through the morning the averages nudged into the green led by commodities and techs. The financials remain quiet. Blackrock is higher on an upgrade. JP Morgan is modestly higher ahead of earnings on Wednesday. A big week for earnings. In the afternoon the averages remained quiet near the unchanged level. In the last hour the Dow fell into the red below 11000 only to rebound into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 2 points at 11,008 marking the index's second close above 11,000 since early May. The S&P 500 Index finished down 11 cents at 1,165 while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 42 cents at 2,402.